I arrived at Spurgeon's College at the age of 21 to train for the Baptist ministry. In a way there are two things wrong with that statement. Firstly, 21 was too young and I was far too inexperienced. However at the time it was very common for most students to enter the College at that sort of age. Perhaps one of the problems with it was that it could make people think that the Christian ministry was a career that you trained for as a young person and then you were set for life. In fact too many dropped out of Christian ministry over the years, probably largely due to the fact that they had started too young and were too inexperienced, and in the end weren't suited to that kind of 'career'. The other thing wrong with my original statement is that we weren't really trained. I was soon to find that when I graduated, was ordained and then inducted to the Baptist ministry (to use the expressions of the time) that I was confronted with a range of problems and challenges for which I had no lecture notes, teaching or preparation for what was in front of me. That is when the training began. I had to learn what Christian ministry is while doing the job! This experience, together with time spent some 14 years later when I, myself, taught for 3 years in a Bible College meant I began to develop a mantra which I then regularly used when I took responsibility for the oversight of training courses within NewFrontiers. 'No Theological College, Bible College or any course we run as a group of churches will train you for Christian ministry. It will make a contribution to your training, but essentially you will learn to minister while doing it in the local church.'
But always I was quick to add that it was important to value one's roots.
I have always been grateful to have been for 4 years in a College founded by one of the greatest preachers in Christian history. It was there that my love for Christ and the Word of God increased. I was helped to exegete Scripture, I discovered Bible commentaries, I learned the discipline of study and of reading, and I gained much from their wisdom when talking to Tutors and discussing with other students. I have always valued my roots even though I moved on to minister in a different family of churches.
Newer church movements like NewFrontiers began with a desire to rediscover and then hopefully restore a New Testament vision of the church. These movements may be young but they still have their roots. There were rediscoveries about the ongoing and present work of the Holy Spirit. Forgotten spiritual gifts were being remembered. Seeing the church as the Body of Christ in the fullness of all that means with a sense of adventure of what God could do through a local church brought genuine excitement. We have our roots and they need to be valued.
I've just returned from 5 days in North Wales where in what was once known as 'the land of revivals' one now sees so many chapel buildings turned into homes, chapels closed and chapels standing as ruined blots on the landscape and one sees it again and again. Is there something in the roots of revival in Wales that has been forgotten I wondered?
We want to move forward, we want to express ourselves in a way that is relevant for today. We don't want to be yesterday's people. But while everything may not have been perfect in our original roots, they helped form us, and our family of churches; so it's important that we value them.